Last week's alarming announcement that the city of Adrian will draw up a budget that eliminates its recreation department should be a wake-up call for local residents. The first step to answering it is to attend upcoming city meetings to learn more and to ask questions.

A regular city commission meeting is scheduled Monday at the city chambers building, and on the agenda is a decision whether to put a city income tax ordinance on the May ballot. An additional presentation and question session on city revenue and expenses is Wednesday at the Adrian Public Library. Both meetings start at 7 p.m.

Facing declining property tax revenue and numerous increasing costs, the city's 2013-14 budget is approximately $370,000 in the red. Easier cuts to various departments took place years ago.

Learning about viable options is important. The city cannot balance its budget if we "Just make the commissioners and mayor take a pay cut," as some have commented. Their salaries were cut in 2011. Despite all their meetings and reading chores, commissioners are paid only $3,178 per year, and the mayor is paid $6,375. Nor is the math even half-solved if we "Get rid of the city administrator," as others suggest — leaving aside the obvious question of who would handle the growing requirements of federal, state, local and labor regulations and other daily duties.

Nor is a $370,000 hole easily filled with new revenue. Higher fees can drive away a significant number of users. Taxes and millages are unpopular. Oil royalties are uncertain at best, and won't begin until production starts.

One way or another, fixing a $370,000 annual deficit will involve painful choices. Learning which alternatives will work and which will not — and why — is better done now than when the final budget is adopted in May. Adrian and its tax base have changed significantly over the past 50 years since the recreation department was created.

We agree that recreation is important for a vibrant community. At the same time, citizens must decide how vital it is for city government to offer cartoon comic drawing, volleyball leagues, daddy-daughter dances, skateboard camp or golf lessons. These are excellent programs, but does the city have the same duty to provide them as it does police, firefighters, sewers, streets or other services?

Perhaps the city can find ways to make cuts and to increase revenue, possibly with fee increases. Maybe seeking a millage for recreation is a possibility. Such questions should be discussed at Wednesday's meeting.

Residents might also need to look to nonprofit groups including clubs, volunteer leagues, the YMCA or other groups through which many of these programs could also be organized and offered. Ultimately, residents choose with their time, wallets and commitment what genuinely matters to them.

The first steps in prioritizing, though, are gathering the facts and understanding the options. Residents should certainly plan to attend Wednesday's presentation and ask questions. That should be the first step to answering this alarm.